Cup of Cooperation

by Melissa Sue Sorrells Galley '05

JULIA RUSSELL EELLS '81

"February was my month
of coffee," laughs Julia
Russell Eells '81, head of
Lincoln School in Providence, R.I.

On many of the 28-days throughout
the shortest month of the
year, Eells sat down with leaders
from Rhode Island-area non-profit
foundations and private institutions
to talk about sharing resources and
advertising. "Providence is incredibly
non-profit rich," she says. "We
tend to engage the same kind of
investors, so there's huge opportunity
for overlap. I thought, why not
work together?"

In an economy where not much
money is changing hands, Eells
believes that non-profits should
support each other by developing
mutually-beneficial programs
and resource-sharing initiatives.
"It's all about co-branding and
co-programming," says Eells. "If
we work together we will all be the
beneficiaries of the rising tide for
great arts, education, culture and
environmental organizations."

CURT SPALDING '81

"Whether you're the leader of an
independent school or the leader
of a non-profit, right now, your
job is very challenging," agrees
H. Curt Spalding '81. Spalding is
a member of Lincoln's Board of
Trustees. He's also the current U.S.
EPA Region I Administrator and the
former director of Save the Bay,
which promotes environmental
stewardship of the Narragansett
Bay region. "With declining support
from federal sources of funding,
non-governmental organizations
need all of the help they can get."

With support from Spalding
and the rest of her Board, Eells
started small, reaching out, sharing
coffee and starting to build
relationships. And then she met Jill
Pfitzenmayer '79, director of the
Initiative for Nonprofit Excellence
at Rhode Island Foundation. "Jill is
the mastermind," says Eells. "She
has inspired so many of us to work
together in a mindful way."

JILL PFITZENMAYER '79

The Initiative for Nonprofit Excellence
is dedicated to strengthening
Rhode Island's more than 3,000
non-profit organizations through
leadership training and development.
As part of that mission,
Pfitzenmayer and her team are currently
focused on how non-profits
cope with shrinking resources and
growing need.

"Recently, we've been looking at
collaboration," says Pfitzenmayer.
"There are financial benefits to
sharing resources, of course, but
it's also good synergy when you
get like-minded people together
to think about problems. Many
non-profits are trying to tackle big,
complicated social issues, and the
solutions are often big and complicated.
It helps to have lots of
different approaches and energies."

To support and encourage
partnerships between non-profits,
the Initiative organized the 2011
Nonprofit Collaboration and Shared
Services Forum. "It was a way for
leaders to meet, talk and find ways
to connect," says Pfitzenmayer.
"Collaboration is all about caring
for and nurturing connections, so
it doesn't happen quickly, but we
are in a unique position to facilitate
those kinds of meetings and help
get the ball rolling."

Pfitzenmayer would like to
continue to develop programs designed
to help NPOs work together
over time to deepen their skills
and broaden their engagement.
"Julia's interest and enthusiasm
have spurred my work in a way,"
she says. "It got us thinking about
different ways we can get leaders
together more informally to meet
and talk."

Which brings us back to all of
those lattes Eells drank in February.
As a result of those meetings and
the relationships she developed at
the Nonprofit Collaboration and
Shared Services Forum, Eells is in
the early stages of partnerships
with several non-profits that will
provide enhanced programming for
Lincoln School students.

"One potential partnership is
with Save the Bay," Eells says.
"We're talking about our students
going out to the Save the Bay
Center once a week for hands-on
lessons, and in return, we share
their mission and message with our
families, tapping them into a new
pool of members and donors."

As part of another still-developing
partnership with Providence
Athenaeum, the library may
become a "literary partner" during
Lincoln's annual Rhode Island
Festival of Children's Books and
Authors. By displaying antique and
classic children's books during the
Festival, Lincoln students will be
exposed to new ideas while the Athenaeum
is introduced to potential
members.

"Lincoln School offers a strong,
traditional approach to education,
so these partnerships will provide
real-world context," says Spalding.
"Our students will have access
to learning experiences and perspectives
that they can't get any
other way."

"Right now, things are germinating.
We're building relationships
that will help support our communities,"
Eells says. "I believe that
these kinds of partnerships are the
wave of the future. We're not going
to get any better or stronger unless
we get smarter."